>>7294959>fall of romethat's a can of worms I'm willing to bet neither of us is qualified to speak on. It was an empire, it didn't 'fall' all at once and there was plenty of other things going on to make all the supposed 'causes' seem inadequate.
As for the art it's a capriccio work, meaning it's essentially a fantasy painting, as in 'neoclassical' which was fashionable back then and there (europe/america 18-19th century), it was Thomas Coles', perhaps, pessimism about the US and what he thought of politics in his time. The Roman/Greco world is not analogous to the US, now or then for so many reasons so that's why the 'democracy' point seems like a such a non-sequitor.
I have a similar problem with this one. It depicts vercingetorix surrendering to ceasar. These were barbarians, Rome/Caesar had just finished warring with. He imprisoned him for years and executed him as a trophy. It does not follow that saw or cared to see each other as 'brothers' because of vaguely considered 'whiteness'. It just comes across as another example of fascists not knowing or caring to know much of the things they pretend to idolise.
